In the cockpit of Blue Sky Flight 9811, after completing the cockpit preparations, the two pilots leisurely waited for the passengers to board.
Compared to the 737, which has a passenger capacity of less than 200, the Boeing 747 has a passenger capacity of twice as much, so it takes a lot longer to board passengers. And the aircraft they are flying now is not the old Boeing 747-100, but the 400 model with upgraded avionics. Otherwise, the entire cockpit would be covered with various switches and all mechanical instruments, and a dedicated flight engineer would be needed later.
The upgraded Boeing 747-400 has simplified the avionics system to be similar to the later 737NG. However, although the avionics systems of Boeing's various series of aircraft are similar, there are still many differences upon closer inspection. It may take a while for a 737 pilot to understand them.
In fact, this is different from Xu Cang's memory. Because in Xu Cang's memory, the Boeing 747 that crashed was an old model 100, but in fact this plane was a model 400. However, when Xu Cang tested the S2's main control locking system, he did not go to the cockpit to take a look, and he did not notice the difference in the aircraft model.
The preliminary work was basically completed, and the two crew members began to chat about all sorts of things. As they chatted, the topic turned to Xu Cang, who was a member of the crew.
"I heard that this guy named Xu Cang said that there was a problem with our plane. He stopped the vice president of maintenance of Blue Sky Airlines in public yesterday. He is really brave." The first co-pilot pressed the back of the chair down to the lowest position. He was basically in a half-lying position, which was extremely comfortable.
To be honest, it would be strange if they were not happy to get almost double the salary in a month and the ground staff also supported them. At first, he and the captain were very reluctant to come to Jianchuan. They thought that although the salary would be higher, they would have to adapt to the new working environment, and the security work of a small company would probably not be good. In the end, they would still have to worry about it themselves, so they were too lazy to earn the extra salary.
After arriving here, I found that many problems did exist, but Blue Sky Airlines paid too much, and for the sake of money, I could tolerate many things.
I don't have many friends here, and to be honest, it's a bit boring after a long time. As a result, Blue Sky Airlines has come up with such a big joke. Some time ago, a flight attendant found to have AIDS, which led a group of people to get checked. Yesterday, a pilot stopped a leader in public. It's really a lot of fun.
Speaking of this, the captain was also very happy: "What a pity, we were not there yesterday. I heard that the vice president of maintenance was so angry that he almost beat someone up. It seems that the vice president of operations of Blue Sky Airlines was also there. That pilot was really bold and didn't give face to the two leaders at all."
Even though these two people nominally work for Blue Sky Airlines, they do not consider themselves to be employees of Blue Sky Airlines at all and speak like outsiders.
"It's a small company, so there are still many strange things." The first co-pilot smiled happily, but when he mentioned the problem with the 747 that Xu Cang mentioned, he couldn't help but show some worry on his face: "Brother, do you know what the problem that person said about our plane? After all, he is a pilot, so he won't make a fuss, right?"
Maybe he was influenced by the first officer's emotions, but the captain also stopped smiling and said, "I heard it's the S2 master locking system..."
"S2 master locking system, what is this? Why have I never heard of it?" The first co-pilot tried hard to recall and confirmed that there should be no relevant content about the so-called S2 master locking system in his knowledge base.
The captain blushed slightly. In fact, he didn't know it at first. He only found out what the S2 master locking system was after asking his friend in flying privately.
"It seems to be about the switch on the door." Even after asking the flying friend to explain it, the captain only half understood it. There was no way, even professional maintenance personnel couldn't figure it out, it was really a bit obscure.
"Hatch door?" The first co-pilot thought it was something related to an important system. It turned out to be the hatch door. He laughed and said, "So it is the hatch door. How come, according to him, the hatch door can be opened in the air?"
The captain's mouth twitched. "From what he said, it seems so. To be honest, I have inquired about what he said, such as S2 switch, C-type bolt, L-type retainer, and the power-off of the locking system. It sounds very complicated. I don't know how this guy figured it out."
"He has no ability but likes to think about things." The first officer didn't care. He really didn't think that the second officer could come up with anything valuable.
The captain's expression became interesting: "Have you heard about the Blue Sky Airlines 9211 incident a while ago? It turned the northwest airspace upside down."
"Of course I know. Didn't the fleet issue documents for learning traditional navigation? We haven't learned this for many years."
The civil aviation industry often grows by accumulating experience and lessons. For example, the windows on the aircraft fuselage were originally square, but later the corners of the squares cracked, so they were replaced with round windows or the corners were designed to be arc-shaped.
Whenever there is a special situation in the industry, the airline company will analyze it and then issue learning materials for the flight crew to refer to. If there are defects in the aircraft or regulations, even the aviation bureau and aircraft designers and manufacturers will be involved.
The first co-pilot smacked his lips and said, "Brother, why are you bringing this up?"
"Because that Xu Cang was on Flight 9211."
"Oh my!" The captain's nervous look just now made the first officer nervous as well. But when he heard that was all, he laughed out loud: "Brother, you should know what the second officer does! Isn't he just here to make up the numbers? The 9211 incident must have been caused by the captain being so good. He just sat in the back and messed around for a while. Do you really expect him to do a great job?"
The captain really felt that there was no problem with this. Most of the time, the second officer was just there to make up the numbers. He was useless and would start sleeping as soon as the plane took off.
Although everyone said that the second officer should help verify whether the two people present had made any mistakes, the actual situation was not like this. What is written in the books, what outsiders think, and what is actually happening are often different. Of course, as things became more standardized in the later period, this kind of casual cockpit atmosphere became less common.
However, the captain did not want to express his opinion about the second officer. A hint of confusion flashed across his face. “Do you know why he stopped the vice president of maintenance?”
The first co-pilot was startled. "Isn't it the S2 master locking system? Didn't I just mention it?"
"Just now we have been saying that the failure of the S2 master locking system was all Xu Cang's fantasy, but just yesterday morning, Boeing seemed to have sent a technical notice to Blue Sky Airlines about the S2 master locking system."
"Impossible!" the first co-pilot shouted, "Why didn't Boeing pass on the notice to us?"
The captain's eyes were filled with confusion. "I don't know either. The maintenance guy just mentioned it when he came up. I think he said Boeing recommended replacing the aluminum fixture with steel."
The first co-pilot's face suddenly changed: "Damn, what does this mean? Since the notice has been issued, it means that Xu Cang is right, so why are they still arguing? "
"The problem also lies in that notice!" The captain lowered his voice: "The notice only recommends replacing the fixture, and there is no mandatory measure."
The first co-pilot was dumbfounded. "Isn't this playing both sides? If there is no problem, why do you still require the replacement of the fixture? If there is a problem, why don't you make it mandatory in the notice? What kind of notice is this? It was issued... but it was not issued completely?"
In the opinion of the first co-pilot, Boeing should be a company with a very rigorous spirit. It is really unprofessional that such a specious notice could be issued.
At this point, the first co-pilot had sensed something, and for the first time, there was a hint of worry in his tone : "Brother, is there really a problem?"
The muscles on the captain's face froze. They were originally just chatting about gossip, but the more they talked, the more they felt the atmosphere in the cockpit became weird.
"Stop talking nonsense! The 747 is not a new aircraft, what else can go wrong?" The captain said this, and his eyes silently drifted to the MFD. After hesitating for a while, he pointed at the MFD and said, "Um... After we fly, pay attention to the status of the cabin door."
Unlike the 737's door display which uses conventional light bulbs, the Boeing 747-400's door status is an integrated display that is presented on the MFD.
The first co-pilot cursed in his heart: "Are you still afraid?"
Thinking of this, the first co-pilot regretted talking about Xu Cang, which made both of them feel uneasy.
…
At this moment, on the business jet apron near the head of Runway 23 of Jianchuan Airport, a Gulfstream business jet is being "served" by various ground personnel. Soon, the plane will take off and return to Shanghai for listing.
On the roof of the passenger elevator, outside the cabin door, Qin Xin leaned on the railing, looking at the flat airport, feeling the cool breeze without the slightest smile on her face.
Behind her, the hot secretary waited for a long time, and finally couldn't help but said: "Miss, there is no need to come so early, there is still a long time before take-off!"
If they followed the correct take-off time, they could have delayed their arrival by nearly an hour. Jianchuan Airport has an independent business jet building that specializes in security checks on passengers and crew of business jets. There are also special vehicles for pick-up and drop-off in the airport, which is very fast.
"I feel a little confused and want to come here to get some fresh air."
Three thousand strands of black hair fell down, fluttering in the wind, appearing a little messy. However, Qin Xin, who always liked tidiness, did not tidy her hair up and just let the wind blow her hair away.
A trace of solemnity flashed across the secretary's face. Qin Xin had hardly smiled since last night. To be honest , she had been with Qin Xin for some years, but she had never seen such a situation.
However, even if she was confused, some things still needed to be made clear. She stepped forward and asked softly, "Miss, what about the cooperation with Blue Sky Airlines?"
Qin Xin did not answer the secretary directly, but asked in return: "Are the three major airlines still not willing to give in?"
"Miss, you know that there will be no compromise from the three major airlines."
Qin Xin was rarely angry: "Yeah, if the price is the same, who would choose Blue Sky Airlines?"
As state-owned enterprises, the three major airlines have all kinds of strange problems, but there is one thing you absolutely don't have to worry about, and that is they will definitely get things done for you, and if they don't, they will make up for the losses themselves.
If possible, Qin Xin would certainly choose the Big Three as a partner. However, the prices of the Big Three were too high, 30% higher than Blue Sky Airlines, and they refused to give in. If the prices of the Big Three were not so outrageous, Qin Xin would be able to accept a 10% increase, but 30% was too much.
For Blue Sky Airlines, a 1 billion contract is definitely enough to feed and support the entire company, but for the Big Three airlines, although it is not a drop in the bucket, it is definitely not enough to change their position.
State-owned enterprises are good in everything except that they like to show off. No matter what, they want to be arrogant and save face. If they lower the price for a contract, wouldn't it seem that their own level has been lowered?
"Miss, apart from the three major airlines, Blue Sky Airlines is already considered pretty good among the second-tier airlines." The secretary reminded.
Qin Xin was upset when she heard that. "I know! But the AIDS news was even reported in the newspaper. Blue Sky Airlines' emergency response capabilities are terrible, and their public relations are terrible. Working with such a partner may trip us up one day."
At this point, Qin Xin suddenly remembered Xu Cang's face. She pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you think it is possible for us to set up an airline company ourselves?"
The secretary was stunned: "Why would you have such an idea, miss? Let's not talk about whether it is cost-effective or not. The Civil Aviation Administration of China is extremely strict in reviewing the number of private capital participating in the establishment of airlines. We may not be able to apply for the qualification to establish an airline."
"What if we let the local government step in?" Qin Xin suddenly said.
The secretary thought of countless possible solutions that Qin Xin might propose, but she never thought of this one. She was stunned for a long time, still unable to figure out what Qin Xin meant: "Miss, are you saying that the local government should communicate with the Civil Aviation Administration? How...how do we do this?"
The secretary couldn't understand why the local government would coordinate with the Civil Aviation Administration on their behalf.
Qin Xin turned her head and looked at the secretary who still looked confused. She shook her head slightly and said, "Forget it. I was just talking casually."
Sure enough, people are different.
It was Xu Cang who proposed the idea of ​​letting the local government communicate with the Civil Aviation Administration. Some time ago, when Xu Cang was chatting with Qin Xin, he was quite emotional and said a lot of thoughts hidden in his heart, including how to obtain the qualification to set up an airline in the future.
In Xu Cang's plan, based on the relatively conservative policy changes in the country, it will take some time to allow private capital to enter the civil aviation industry in the future. During this period, it will still be very difficult for private capital to participate in the establishment of airlines, but this also gives them a fairly broad blue ocean market.
Due to policy restrictions, a large amount of private capital has been unable to enter the civil aviation market, which has blocked a large number of competitors. The small amount of private capital that has entered the civil aviation market, such as Blue Sky Airlines, has not broken away from the traditional profit model of civil aviation, and is thinking about how to compete with the three major airlines.
The three major airlines have policy support and the benefit of scale effect. If you follow their path, you will only be able to smell their exhaust for the rest of your life. Only by opening up the market in other places can you have some vitality, such as the low-cost airline concept proposed by Xu Cang and Qin Xin, which is to tap into the huge sinking market.
Of course, in Xu Cang's blueprint, low-cost airlines are only one part of it. The other part includes air freight, especially express delivery. After 2000, the domestic economy will experience explosive growth. At that time, people will not blindly pursue low prices for the transportation of goods, but will instead begin to favor the demand for speed. There is no doubt that air transportation is the fastest way of transportation.
Xu Cang remembered that it was around this time that there was already an express company in the south of China, but it had only been operating regionally. However, in the future, it would develop into a giant in the domestic logistics industry. When Xu Cang was reborn, that logistics company even had a fleet of 70 aircraft. Its operating philosophy was speed and efficiency, and air transportation played a critical role.
According to Xu Cang's calculations, the express logistics company has not even started to build a national logistics network yet, and is still a young sprout. According to Xu Cang's expectations, they can swallow up the express company before it rises and use it for their own benefit, and the cost is not high. If they really wait for it to grow up, it will be bad.
Moreover, Xu Cang knew that many years later, due to certain events, the passenger market around the world would be extremely depressed, while the freight market would usher in a period of prosperity. If he made arrangements in advance, he would seize this historical opportunity.
In this way, the fleet can achieve the ultimate utilization rate for cargo, passenger transport and tour group outsourcing. In Xu Cang's plan, he will be at the forefront for at least the next 30 years.
The future described by Xu Cang was so real that Qin Xin was so excited that she could hardly control herself. As for how to enter the civil aviation market, Xu Cang gave two methods.
The first is to take over the quota of Blue Sky Airlines. The Civil Aviation Administration is extremely conservative about the entry of private capital, but it does not prohibit existing airlines from changing their equity. In other words, it is possible to enter the civil aviation market in disguise by acquiring Blue Sky Airlines. Moreover, Xu Cang even predicted that Blue Sky Airlines would encounter a crisis in the future, so it is possible to take advantage of the opportunity.
However, this method is too costly. Many investors are eyeing the civil aviation market. If Blue Sky Airlines has the idea of ​​introducing other capital to help it out, it will definitely be surrounded by wolves. Not to mention whether it can take the lead, even if it succeeds in the crowded market, the cost will be huge, and the gain will not outweigh the loss.
Another is what Xu Cang said, that is, let the local government come forward. Let the official people coordinate official affairs, which often leads to unexpected results.
Xu Cang even had a systematic process for which local government to come forward and how to make the local government willing to come forward. Qin Xin was stunned when he heard it.
"What a pity!" The more Qin Xin thought about it, the more heartbroken she felt.
Xu Cang has already torn his relationship with BlueSky Airlines, so he definitely can't stay there any longer. What's the use of a good blueprint if the architect is gone?
It’s the time and the fate!
…
In the cockpit of Flight 9811, the plane had been taking off for more than 20 minutes, and the altitude was rising from 8,100 meters to 9,500 meters. At the beginning of takeoff, the captain and the first co-pilot still had some psychological trauma due to the previous conversation, and they glanced at the MFD display from time to time, but when it was almost time to cruise, they finally calmed down and secretly cursed themselves for scaring themselves.
During the climb, the first co-pilot had already unfastened his shoulder straps, reclined his chair, and lay down comfortably: "Brother, should I ask my family later if there is any problem with the cabin door of this plane?"
The first co-pilot was not talking about Blue Sky Airlines, but Muhua Airlines. When encountering problems, they are more willing to trust Muhua Airlines.
After all, some things have been exposed, and if they are not clarified, it will be like a thorn in the throat, so it is better to figure it out.
The captain hummed, "I think that's true too. If I had known, I wouldn't have talked about it. Now it feels like a cat's claw is scratching my heart. I feel uncomfortable everywhere."
Intellectually, they don't believe there will be any problems with the classic Boeing 747. It's just that the ambiguous notice issued by Boeing really makes people think about it, so it's better to clarify it.
After a short silence, the first co-pilot suddenly smacked his lips, took a deep breath, and looked at the captain with some doubt: "Brother, do you feel chest tightness?"
"No?" The captain laughed and said, "You may have smoked too much, so your lung function is not good. Why don't you lower the ascent rate a little bit and ascend more slowly? This should make you more comfortable."
"It should be!" The first co-pilot agreed with him. He was a heavy smoker, and smoking too much would indeed affect lung function. Even if there was a pressurization system on the plane, the air pressure altitude would basically be maintained at around 8,000 feet. People with weaker lung function would still feel uncomfortable.
Therefore, the first co-pilot manually adjusted the climb rate to around 800, which was considered a relatively small climb rate.
"Why do you smoke so much at such a young age? If you fail a chest X-ray one day, you'll have to suffer." The captain advised.
The first co-pilot nodded hurriedly in agreement. He certainly wanted to quit smoking, but if it was really that easy to quit, he wouldn't have failed so many times.
While chatting with the captain, after the aircraft's climb rate slowed down, the first co-pilot casually glanced at the pressurization system's cabin altitude gauge, which indicated the rate of increase or decrease in the cabin altitude.
Generally speaking, the pressurization system will control the change in cabin altitude to a relatively smooth level, such as 500 feet per minute. Under normal circumstances, it will not exceed 1,000 feet per minute. If it exceeds this, there is a high probability that there is a problem with the pressurization system.
If the plane's climb rate is currently around 800, then the cabin climb rate should be around 500. But when the first co-pilot looked at the cabin altitude rise rate meter, it showed that the plane's cabin altitude climb rate was also close to 800.
"Hmm?" The first co-pilot tapped the altitude gauge: "Brother, this thing goes up so fast, is it normal?"
"What is that?" The captain looked at the cabin altitude gauge in the direction pointed by the first co-pilot. He exclaimed, "Yeah, how come it's going up so fast? It's almost close to the aircraft's climb rate. At this altitude, the cabin altitude change should be very small."
The pressurization system of Boeing aircraft has its own working logic. Its pressurization method has a certain correlation with the aircraft's own climb rate, but it is not linearly related. Moreover, at this moment, the aircraft is already at an altitude of 30,000 feet, and there is not much room for the cabin altitude to rise. The pressurization system should be adjusted to a relatively small climb rate to be considered normal.
However, some people say that Boeing aircraft are inherently rough. Sometimes what is written in the manual is different from what actually happens, and it is common for some systems to occasionally fail.
Therefore, the captain was not too panicked. He just unbuckled his seat belt and wanted to stand up to check the pressure of the pipes on both sides. As long as the components were working properly, there would be no problem. The unusual change in the cabin altitude might just be the plane being "naughty".
The first co-pilot was also very calm. He glanced at the cockpit altimeter. According to the comparison table of flight altitude and cockpit altitude, the cockpit altitude should be maintained at about 7,000 feet at the current altitude. However, after the cockpit altitude reached 7,000 feet, the climb rate only decreased slightly, but did not return to zero.
"Huh? What does this mean?" According to the working logic of the pressurization system, the cabin altitude rise rate should be zero or reduced to an extremely small level at this time. Why is it still maintaining an ascent rate of more than 500 feet per minute? This does not conform to the pressurization plan logic of the pressurization system.
At this moment, the captain had already unbuckled his seat belt. He grabbed an iron pull ring on the sun visor with his left hand, using it to pull his body up, and was about to touch the panel with his right hand.
However, when the captain's hand just touched the panel knob, the first co-pilot clearly saw that the pointer of the cockpit altitude gauge was originally maintained in the range of 500 to 800 feet, but for some reason, almost in an instant, the pointer moved directly backwards, exceeding 1,000 feet per minute, then 2,000 feet, and finally reached an area with no scale indication, reaching the maximum climb rate.
The first co-pilot's heart seemed to stop beating at this moment. He was very familiar with this change in the ascent and descent rate because he had seen it in every decompression training in the simulator.
Just when the first co-pilot's mind was blank, a dull subwoofer sound came into the cockpit, like a heavy hammer hitting the hearts of both of them.
"Not good!" The co-pilot was distracted for only a moment. After hearing the muffled sound, he immediately knew what was happening.
Almost at the same time as the co-pilot realized the problem, the cabin altitude warning sounded continuously. As soon as the captain's hand touched the knob, the cabin altitude warning sounded, and his body shrank back as if conditioned, while still shouting: "Decompression, put on oxygen mask."
This action is basically the pilot's instinct. After the pressure is released, put on the oxygen mask first regardless of anything else.
Knowing is one thing, being able to do it is another. In simulator training, it is impossible to simulate the body's reaction to explosive decompression in the cockpit. Naturally, you can put it on if you want to, but when you really encounter it, the situation is different.
The captain was originally in a half-standing state, and just sat back down, his left hand still touching the oxygen mask, when he felt a sharp pain in his mouth, the pain was so severe that he almost suffocated.
It is said that toothache is not a disease, but it can kill people. The captain now understands the profoundness of this statement. In the decompression situation, the brain reaction slows down due to severe lack of oxygen. The sudden pain directly makes the captain lose the ability to think.
He instinctively covered his mouth, only to feel wetness between his right fingers, and saliva mixed with blood flowing down, unable to be stopped.
The captain had a porcelain tooth in his mouth, which was usually fine. However, under the effect of the explosive decompression at high altitude, due to the change in air pressure, the flesh and blood of the tooth burst and began to bleed profusely.
The intense pain took up all the captain's mind, but he still endured the pain and kept groping for the oxygen mask with his left hand. I don't know if it was due to the change in air pressure, but the captain's left hand fingers began to feel numb, and he could no longer feel the protruding part of the oxygen mask.
However, the situation was different from that of the captain. At the moment when the plane was decompressed, the first co-pilot felt as if someone was strangling his throat and could not breathe at all.
When the pressurization was temporarily normal, he felt a little uncomfortable when the cabin climbed a little faster. Now the cabin altitude rose rapidly to more than two thousand feet per minute. How could he bear it?
However, the co-pilot remained calm in the face of danger. He touched the oxygen mask and quickly put it on when he was almost suffocating. The terrifying feeling of drowning just now made the co-pilot's heart almost jump out, but after putting on the oxygen mask, he felt a little relieved.
The first co-pilot instinctively took a few deep breaths, and suddenly he realized that the captain was not wearing an oxygen mask. Instead, he was slumped in his seat, one hand on his jaw, half of his body covered in blood, and the captain's eyes were half-closed, and he seemed to be in a state of confusion.
The first co-pilot's heart was pounding, he couldn't understand why the captain was in such a state. He was shocked and scared. His first thought was to help the captain put on the oxygen mask, otherwise someone might die.
But as soon as he unbuckled his seat belt and stood up slightly, he felt dizzy and could not stand steadily for a moment, so he sat back down.
At this moment, the first co-pilot's heart was beating like a fully powered engine. He took a deep breath and tried to stand up again. However, as he moved, his vision became blurry and his head felt heavy, as if he was about to fall asleep.
"What's going on? How could this happen?" At this time, even if the first co-pilot was slow to react, he understood that the development of things seemed to be different from what he expected.
The situation he just encountered was very similar to the symptoms of hypoxia, but he was clearly wearing an oxygen mask, so how could he still be suffering from hypoxia?
Is there something wrong with the cockpit's oxygen system?
Problems with cockpit oxygen systems have occurred in the history of civil aviation. There have been cases of cockpit oxygen leaks, which led to the embarrassing problem of no oxygen available when an accident occurred.
But the plane was slowly decompressed that time, and the pilot's physiological reaction was not strong, so he still had some reaction time to control the emergency descent of the plane. But his explosive decompression caused a sharp change in the surrounding air pressure, which could easily cause the body fluids to boil. The pilot would feel great physiological discomfort, and it would be much more difficult to handle the relevant special situation.
At this time, the first co-pilot's mind was already confused. Without oxygen at high altitude, people would quickly lose consciousness. Now the captain could no longer be relied upon. If he was unconscious, everyone on the plane would be in danger.
In fact, the oxygen mask was still supplying oxygen. If you feel carefully, you can feel a slight airflow. But the co-pilot's panicked thinking inertia had already determined that there was no oxygen in the oxygen mask.
However, it made no difference. The more scared the first co-pilot was, the more dizzy he felt. This happened over and over again, and the fear quickly engulfed the first co-pilot like a nightmare.
He has lost the ability to assess his own condition!
At this moment, he had given up trying to save the captain. If he tried again, everyone on the plane would be buried with him. The first co-pilot even gave up manually closing all the outflow valves, because in the abnormal procedure, all the outflow valves needed to be in the closed position.
He knew very well what the muffled sound just now meant. It was almost certain that some part of the body was damaged. Only large-scale damage to the body would cause such an explosive decompression.
He ignored the passenger oxygen, seat belt lights, and emergency codes! He just wanted the plane to descend, and then to ascend, the plane just rushed into the abyss.
At this moment, the plane was still on autopilot, which was a blessing in disguise. Given the first co-pilot's current state, if the autopilot was disconnected and he had to fly manually, it would be impossible.
Under normal circumstances, if the controller has not given permission for an emergency descent, the aircraft needs to turn right 30 degrees and deviate from the route. The first officer planned to start the descent while declaring an emergency. He knew that his current behavior might cause great trouble to the controller, but he could not care less because his life was at stake.
However, just as the first officer raised his left hand and before he pressed the radio transmit button with his right hand, the MCP board began to appear double in his field of vision, and he could not even find the altitude knob.
In case of emergency descent, if you want automatic flight, you should always select a lower altitude and then press the FLCH button. You can adjust the speed to the maximum possible speed depending on the situation, especially if the fuselage is damaged.
FLCH stands for Flight Level CHange. Its function in autopilot is similar to the Level CHange of Boeing 737.
The first co-pilot was sweating profusely. He was already confused when he saw the MCP board. How could he make an emergency descent? If he had disconnected the autopilot and was flying manually, he could have ignored the change in the altitude window. But the problem was that he had to think for several seconds to figure out how much one plus one equals. How could he control the plane?
In fact, the first officer was confused. Although emergency descents require automatic altitude change in principle, this is not a hard and fast rule.
It’s all about descending, but at a critical moment we still have to consider the way of descending?
If the descent method is changed, the vertical rate method is adopted. Since the predetermined height has not been reached yet, if a descent rate is directly introduced, the automatic driving can ignore the higher altitude and continue to descend.
However, this substitution method has to be used even when the mind is clear, let alone when one is unconscious.
The first co-pilot could feel his consciousness rapidly fading away. He knew that it was a matter of life and death and his next move would determine the life or death of the entire plane.
He gave up trying to fumble with the MCP board, which would only waste his remaining energy. The first officer slowly moved his left hand away from the MCP board and fumbled for the cockpit door switch on the center console.
With a crisp sound, the cockpit door locking system was removed. Since the aircraft was still in a climbing state, the aircraft pitched up naturally, which caused the cockpit door to open automatically as soon as it was unlocked.
The moment the hatch opened, the first co-pilot yelled with all his strength: "Call for help, call for help!"